Writers House hosts on-line discussion

A small panel participated in a poetry discussion that was broadcast live on the Internet. An interactive poetry discussion at the Kelly Writers House on Thursday, which was broadcast live on the Internet, heralded a novel type of learning and interaction that is being practiced today across the University. Several University faculty members -- including English Professor Al Filreis, who is also the Writers House faculty director -- discussed the William Carlos Williams poem "To Elsie (the pure products of America go crazy)" with about 30 on-line participants. As the poem was discussed, participants from across the nation were encouraged to log onto the Writers House Web site. From there, they could become involved in the ongoing on-line discussion -- similar to an Internet chat room -- or e-mail their comments directly to the panel composed of Filreis, English professor Bob Perelman, College of General Studies staff member Kristin Gallagher, and Shawn Walker, a History department staff member. A closed-circuit television was also set up in the Writers House for those who wanted to watch the discussion and become involved on-line by posting comments. The faculty members encouraged audience participation and attempted to work comments into the discussion of the poem. Indeed, the on-line discussion was not restricted to Penn students -- participants ranged from Penn students to Drexel students, from an Atlantic City dentist to an English professor from Boulder, Colo. As the panel discussed the poem, Walker monitored the Internet side of the debate, offering comments and asking the panel questions posed by the Internet audience. "This is an experiment to see how well e-mail links with audiences," Perelman said. Writers House holds more than 130 programs each semester, and this on-line format can bring speakers and presenters to participants all over the world, Filreis said. "We hope to send to you, through this medium, some of these workshops which will be an interaction of video and audio," he told the audience members viewing from home. The same video and audio equipment will be used frequently throughout the fall semester, Filreis said. The discussion was scheduled to last one hour, but audience participation was so strong that the panel decided to continue on for an additional 20 minutes. The electronic poetry discussion is but one of many concerted efforts made by the Writers House to increase the number of on-line classes and provide more interaction between students and professors throughout the University. In April, the College of General Studies announced that its PennAdvance program -- which allows Penn students in 15 selected cities can take on-line classes for full credit -- would begin this summer. Professors broadcast their lectures from a studio at 46th and Market streets, while the classes are shown on big screen televisions at Caliber Learning Centers in the selected cities. Filreis also spearheaded -- along with Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing Jim O'Donnell -- a new program, launched two years ago, in which incoming freshmen are able to take an on-line class that introduces them to the University and college-level coursework. The course started in January with groups of early decision applicants and will continue until classes begin this fall. Additional groups of regular decision applicants started a separate course in May, O'Donnell said.

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